Coroner: Driver likely died of a heart attack

Preliminary results of an autopsy show that a driver involved in a crash Sunday in Havre probably died as a result of a heart attack, the county deputy coroner said.

Havre native William R. Filler, 69, was pronounced dead at Northern Montana Hospital following the crash about 3 p.m. on Fifth Avenue near Sixth Street.

Deputy coroner Les Osborne said a witness told police that Filler slumped over in the car prior to the accident.

Filler was raised in Havre and graduated from Havre High School in 1953. He returned in 1978 to work as a loan officer for First National Bank, now U.S. Bank, his wife, Carole Filler, said today. Filler was a vice president at the Havre branch of U.S. Bank at the time of his death.

Lisa Hinebauch, Carole Filler's daughter by a previous marriage, said William Filler was extremely active on behalf of Montana State University-Northern, which he attended before leaving Havre in 1959 to begin a career in business finance.

Hinebauch said Filler was instrumental in starting the adopt-a-student program at the university and also helped with fund-raising activities. Northern students have been calling this week to express their sympathy, she said.

"Northern's going to miss him," Hinebauch said.

Filler's car, southbound on Fifth Avenue on Sunday, drifted into the northbound lane, went over the curb, hit a tree and then overturned.